(Sunday Snapshot) - Spring Recital

"To touch, to move, to inspire.

This is the true gift of dance."

 

~ Aubrey Lynch

 

8 months of hard work, practice, practice and more practice to be ready for their Spring Recital.

Every year is different but to me it's always magical
and full of joy and pageantry.
I love every single thing about this little dance community
and school.

At each Spring recital I'm taken back to when I first met
my two youngest children, and can't help but think of how many obstacles they've overcome.
What never changes is how proud and honored I am to be their Mom.

{Older ballerinas waiting to go on stage}

Grace plans to dance next year, Will is not so sure,
maybe try karate? (that's what he tells me). ;)




 

Spring in all it's glory

I love flowers and I love to photograph flowers.

The great thing about that is they don't run away or make a face when you attempt a photo.

Our Spring is late but I'm not complaining one little bit.

Enjoying it all...

(Sunday Snapshot) - Are We There Yet?

 

 

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men.

 

~ Chinese Proverb

I feel like I'm one of my children in the car as we travel to a destination,
and instead of asking "Are we there yet?" I
keep asking to myself, "Is Spring here yet?"

It seems to take one step forward and 3 steps back.
Many days we've had cold rain, a few days of snow, and not much sun.
Since we've had a month of April showers, we should have
a plethora of flowers in May.

We decided to embrace our (slow to arrive) Spring
and have fun in the puddles and rain.
Spring will come, it always does...

 



My Little Buddy

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Playing with rocks and sticks has been entertainment for little boys since...well, forever.



Opie and Andy Griffith would skip rocks on a lake to start their TV show.

My husband still enjoys it. 



 

I got a chance to get some time alone with my little man

and he gravitated to throwing rocks into the lake. 

 Not much success with skipping stones yet but he has the throwing part down all right.



Spending time with a happy boy just having fun...our Spring is trying to make an appearance.

 

 

Easter snapshots

 

{Our Easter}

 

It was a quiet one and included an indoor Easter egg hunt, going to a beautiful church service, brunch at a wonderful restaurant called Quivey's Grove and spending the day with my parents, our 'bigs' Nick and Lindsay and of course our 'littles.'

The sun was shining in the morning and I was able to get the two of them outside for a few Easter pics that have become our little tradition.

 You can see from the above 3 photos that Will thoroughly enjoyed his new hat.

He was one dapper guy in his argyle vest!

19/52 and Favorite Photo Friday - it's showtime!

{Spring Recital}

I'll admit that this is one of my favorite times of the year,

and also some of my personal favorites as far as photos that I take
of my children.

There were some funky lighting situations... but I made the best of it and took

my time enjoying these moments.

(Grace and her friends waiting in the hallway before going on).

Last year at her recital I got thinking 

that there probably aren't too many people

that get to see this magical little 'world' that lies backstage at a dance performance.
The air is charged with excitement.

It is incredibly special to me.

(Older ballerinas watching Grace's class perform on stage.These girls were so encouraging to the younger ones).

And for Will...this was his first Spring recital.
The waiting part was a little hard for these guys
in the boys (5-7 yr.) hip hop class. They couldn't wait to show the audience what they could do.
The boys had 2 performances on Saturday and they did awesome!



(Waiting to go on...Will was the first onstage and led his group out).

Months and months of practice come down to this....
and finally it's their time in the spotlight.
My husband and I couldn't have been more proud of our two!

Grace had strep throat the week of the recital and missed both rehearsals as a result.
The photos of her were from Friday night of the ballet, "A MidSummer's Night Dream."
She was part of the lavender field.
Unfortunately she was too sick to dance on Saturday
and didn't get to perform in the ballet again or in her jazz and tap dances.
She was a little disappointed but is really looking forward to dancing again next year.
And thankfully she's healthy now.

Will's hip hip group danced to "My Girl" by Mindless Behavior.
He loved being on stage for his dance and also the finale (his first one).
He's still thinking about hip hop for next year but may possibly switch to gymnastics.
This boy can move!

And Happy Mother's Day a little early!

Sunday Snapshot - exquisite

{Grace - age 9 and 1/2}

The inspiration for these images
was my daughter Grace's
beautiful ballet dress.

My mother is a talented sewer, and it's from her that
I've gained a true appreciation for fabric, and love of color and design.
The pattern of the tiny beads on the top of this dress is exquisite
and I loved capturing the detail.

I originally thought I'd keep these images all in color 

but felt black/white suited them just as well.

You can see so much

 of this gentle, sweet soul (who is Grace)

in them.

These were taken early last week
when we had some time one late afternoon.
I used the beautiful north window light from different perspectives,
using light facing Grace, from the side and behind her.

Taken with my Nikon D700,
the portraits were taken with my 85mm 1.4 lens
with settings of:

 f/1.4
ISO - 320
 1/200 sec.

For the other images I used my 35mm 1.4 at:

 f/2
ISO - 1000
1/250-1/500 sec.

Edited with Florabella's bl/white 'Vanilla' action (one of my favorites for bl/whites).
I opened up the action and tweaked it a bit with the contrast and light, leaving the tones the same.
In the very first image I also added a little bit of 'White Haze' from her 'Hazy Skies Collection.'
I liked the effect.

For the color versions, I used Florabella's 'Classic Color' action with a touch of  'Soft Warmth'
on a couple of them.

For the last one of her profile,
 I did very little other than crop the image (it didn't need much)
and increase the contrast a bit. I love the simplicity of it.



As for personal favorites, I have two... they're the first one and second to last images.

Grace and her brother Will performed this weekend in their dance school's recital.

I'll blog about it later this week.

17/52 and Favorite Photo Friday - looking out my front door

{Beauty}

Early Tuesday morning after coming back from walking

our pup Zoe, I grabbed my camera and went out
the door again...to take some photos.

It didn't take long for me to find beauty in the ordinary, the mundane, and the things

I sometimes take for granted that I see and look at every day.

These photos remind me to appreciate and celebrate what is around me
each and every day.

(I imagine I looked kind of funny laying on my belly in the grass, 
capturing the dandelions gone to seed. Ah...what we'll do for a photo).


Happy Friday!

Sunday Snapshot - Exploring

I love watching what they do very well, which is 

to play, investigate, learn,

experiment and explore.

“Explore” basically means to go where you haven’t been before – which is what children 

do all of the time. 

 As they grow, they change and the world looks a little different 

from their perspective.  

(Shortly after this was taken, Will fell off the little board, got his bottom wet
 and of course loved that part).

They often find themselves in new places and situations which can sometimes
 be uncomfortable, scary, exciting or fun.   
Their reactions can be inquisitive, fearful, subdued or joyous. 
 I love joyous.

(Fishing for as they called it..."goo," also known as mud and dead leaves,
they thoroughly enjoyed themselves!)

  It's fun for me to watch these two create games and try new things.
They can get quite creative.

Taken last weekend at a park we'd never explored as a family.
We'll definitely be back...and hopefully soon.

(Violet collector).

Shot with my Nikon d700 with a 35mm 1.4 lens.
f/1.8 - 2.5
1/320 - 1/800 sec.
ISO 250
Spot metering
Taken around 4pm.

This area had beautiful light
and even some soft back light (the ones of Grace and Will 'fishing').
Back light has a haziness to it that can give an image a lovely look.

Edited with Florabella's 'Lume' action from her
Luxe II collection.



(Will with sticks).

Please see more at Ni Hao Y'all's Sunday Snapshot.

Favorite Photo Friday and 15/52 - Spring picnic

{Grace and Lydia}

I've written about Grace and Lydia before,

but to refresh your memory these girls first met at age 3 and 4 and
hit it off immediately.

Over 5 years later their friendship is going strong.

This week I had some thoughts about doing a little themed session with them,
so brought a few props along to an orchard that isn't far away.

Lydia will be turning 9 soon and every year as her birthday approaches,
I take photos of the two girls together.
It's a beautiful keepsake for them and their mommas.
They girls enjoy each other's company so much
 but haven't had the good fortune to be in the same class in school.
That doesn't seem to matter as we live only 2 houses apart and they get to spend lots of time together.
They're best friends, confidants, supreme gigglers, lovers
of sleepovers, American Girl dolls, cupcakes and sweet tea!
Oh...to be 9 again.

It was so fun to photograph these 2 on this beautiful Spring afternoon.

The apple blossoms were starting to open on the trees.

I can see where the term 'Spring green' came from, the grass and new leaves are such a vibrant shade 

this time of the year.

Oh, and as far as shooting my first 'themed' session, I was very happy with the results!

(The props weren't purchased for this, I already had the items in my home and thought they fit well with the theme).

Lisa hosts Favorite Photo Friday, so please be sure and see what she's up to...

and all of her beautiful photos.

Have a great weekend!